Compromise Equals Defeat

Recently I gave the following message, but thought it would also be good to publish it in blog form:

In my messages I have talked numerous times about the despair in the Body of Messiah over the lack of power. But, from where do we derive spiritual power? We derive it from coming into alignment with the will of God. So, then, what removes that power? Compromise with the enemy.

The enemy uses a basic strategy, at all times. If we can recognize this strategy then we can avoid compromise and thus avoid defeat. The model is found in Sh'mot (Exodus) 5:1ff.

Moshe (Moses) had already come to the people of Israel, at the behest of God, and declared to them God's intentions for them - to completely set them free from bondage (Chapter 4:29-31). So, the process for freedom was initiated with this declaration, which the enemy (Pharaoh) didn't like. Because Pharaoh was under the control of the true enemy (hasatan), he was very much like a puppet on strings. He did exactly what hasatan does. What are hasatan's tactics?


(1) Chapter 5 - Discouragement

What happened when Moshe and Aharon (Aaron) waltzed into Pharaoh's court and demanded that Pharaoh let the people of Israel go? Did he say, "Certainly," and immediately let them go? No way! The enemy thinks he OWNS us. He's not going to just give away what he owns. There's a price to be paid. Instead, Pharaoh did just the opposite. Things didn't get better, they got worse. When you are about to enter into freedom in an area of your life, guess what's going to happen? Hasatan will pile more burdens on you to make you believe God's word is false, that no freedom is going to come, just more bondage. When the consequences of Moshe's encounter with Pharaoh trickled down to the people of Israel, they got very angry with Moshe and told him that he had put a sword in the hands of the Egyptians to kill them. Of course, according to God's word, this was not true, but the people didn't yet believe God's word. If you stand your ground, which Moshe did, hasatan moves on to tactic number two.

(2) Chapter 7:3 - 8:7 - Disorientation

In this passage we have Moshe and Aharon re-appearing before Pharaoh. This time they have come armed with a little demonstration of the power of God. So, they throw the rod down and it turned into a serpent (in Hebrew the word could also be translated crocodile). But, guess what? hasatan did the same thing! Uh oh! What now? The enemy will mimic what God does because the message he is trying to send is, "See, what your God does is nothing special. I can do exactly the same thing. I'm just as capable as He is." If we keep reading, we see that the magicians continued to duplicate what Moshe and Aharon did - for the first three plagues. Once they got to the lice, and every other plague after that, the magicians could not keep up. So, what was the purpose behind this tactic? It was to try to convince Moshe that the declarations and their outcomes, of both God and hasatan, were equally valid. In 8:25, Pharaoh tells Moshe they can sacrifice as long as they stay in Egypt. But, is that what God said was supposed to happen? Of course not! Moshe stood his ground yet again. So, Pharaoh, moves to tactic three.

(3) Chapter 8:28 - Loss of Vision

In this verse Pharaoh says, "I'll let you go, but don't go far. I need to be able to keep tabs on you." But, what was the vision of God, which He spoke to Moshe in the bush that burned without being consumed? TOTAL FREEDOM! There were no tabs to be kept on the people of Israel. So, was what Pharaoh was offering freedom? NO! hasatan says, "I'll let you have what you want, if you'll do it my way and don't stray too far away." If we continue to say no to him, he moves to tactic four.


(4) Chapter 10:24 - Compromise

"Okay, okay! It looks like I'm not going to win this one, am I? So, here's what we'll do, go ahead, take all the people, go out into the desert and do your sacrificing, but leave something of value behind. That way, I'll know you'll be back." hasatan understood the principle of the Bible that says, "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." The livestock were Israel's livelihood. If they left them in Egypt, Pharaoh knew they'd have to come back for them before leaving. But, how did Moshe respond? 10:26a, "Our livestock will also go with us - not a hoof will be left behind ..." Moshe said, "I'm not here to compromise with you Pharaoh. God has already declared and laid out how all of this is going down and that's the way it's going to be, with NO changes."


When you are approaching freedom in some area, hasatan will always use these same four tactics, in this same order. As we know from the story, even though Moshe won out over these four tactics, Pharaoh still didn't give up. Later, Pharaoh came after the people of Israel to retrieve them and take them back to Egypt, to re-enslave them. It wasn't until the waters of Yam Suf (the Reed Sea) closed down on Pharaoh and his army that Israel was finally, totally free of Egypt, Pharaoh and bondage.

What most people do not realize is that Israel could NOT be freed by Pharaoh. God could not let that happen, because then Egypt would have taken credit for setting the people of Israel free. It had to be as it was so that God could get the credit for freeing them. So it is with hasatan. We are not ever set free by permission of hasatan, nor by our own self-determination. hasatan will never be able to let us go. He can never have the credit for setting us free. We MUST be redeemed by God through His Son, Yeshua. God sets us free for His purposes and so that He will receive all of the glory.